How to Choose a Long-Distance Moving Company: Broker vs Carrier, 8 Checks on Long-Distance Movers

0:00A $9,800 quote that grew to $21,670

How do you choose a long-distance moving company? Here's how it went for one family that booked through a broker.

In 2024, a family moved from Nebraska to Wisconsin. According to a Denver TV station's report, the mother hired a broker, and the broker hired a Denver-based mover. The quote was ninety-eight hundred dollars. The station reported it grew to twenty-one thousand six hundred and seventy. Their things sat in a Colorado storage unit and arrived after eighty-eight days. While they waited, the station found, Colorado suspended the mover's license, because its insurance had been canceled. She says the mover wanted more cash at the door, and she paid.

In the next ten minutes: who you're hiring, the federal look-up, how to read reviews, an honest estimate, and the paperwork you're owed.

I'm Daniel, from Majestic Moving Companies. Our team has more than thirty-five years in the moving industry. Let's get into it.

0:52Broker, carrier, agent: 3 kinds of mover

How can you tell if a moving company is a broker? Three kinds of company can quote a long-distance move.

A carrier owns the trucks and employs the crew. It takes full responsibility for your things.

A broker owns no trucks. The federal regulator of interstate movers, the FMCSA, describes brokers as sales teams that book your move and sell it to an actual moving company. That's legal. But the agency warns: if a broker can't sell your job, you can be stuck without a mover on moving day.

The third kind is a van line agent: a local mover that books and loads under a national carrier's name. By federal law, that carrier answers for what its agents do.

Here's how to tell. A broker's ads and website have to say it's a broker, and that it won't transport your goods. It has to give you a list of the movers it uses, with their U.S. D.O.T. numbers. An agent's ads have to show the name and number of the carrier it works under.

Then ask one question. Whose name and D.O.T. number will be on my bill of lading?

That name is the company your contract is with.

1:58The federal look-up: 4 lines to read

How do you find out if a moving company is licensed? For a move between states, the federal government keeps the record, and it's free.

Search for the FMCSA's mover search, and pick Search by Company. Type in the name, the U.S. D.O.T. number, or the M.C. number. The D.O.T. number identifies the company. The M.C. number marks its operating authority, its federal permission to work for hire.

Now read four lines.

One: the name and address. They should match your estimate. Federal investigators suggest a street-view check, to see a business and not a house.

Two: fleet size. The page counts the company's trucks, tractors and trailers.

For the last two, look up the same number on the FMCSA's Company Snapshot.

Three: U.S. D.O.T. status. You want Active. Out-of-Service means the company isn't allowed to operate.

Four: operating authority status. It should say Authorized For, and name household goods. Not Authorized means no interstate moves for hire. As the agency puts it, a company can be registered and still not be authorized to move household goods.

And the search page carries its own warning. Being registered doesn't mean the government endorses the mover.

Four lines, a couple of minutes, before you spend a dollar.

Want real numbers for your move? Get free moving quotes at majesticmovingcompanies.com. The form takes about thirty seconds, and we match you with professional movers who cover your route. Want a gut check first? Our free calculator shows a fair price range. So when a quote comes in way under it, you'll know it's not a deal. It's a warning.

3:34Licensed and insured? The $5,000 fine print

How do you check if a moving company is insured? Start with what licensed and insured means on a mover's website.

To hold federal authority, a household goods mover keeps two kinds of insurance on file. Liability for crashes: at least seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, for trucks over ten thousand pounds. And cargo insurance: five thousand dollars per truck, ten thousand for any one incident. A broker files no cargo insurance at all, only a seventy-five-thousand-dollar bond.

So insured means the company meets a federal minimum. It doesn't mean your household is insured for what it's worth. The FMCSA's red flags include a mover claiming its insurance covers all your goods. What you'd be paid for damage depends on the protection level you choose on your contract. Our New York to Florida video covers that choice.

The federal Company Snapshot links to the company's licensing and insurance record. That's where to look for a pending cancellation.

Then read the complaints. The FMCSA's mover search lists four years of them, by type, from hostage goods to loss and damage. The agency says to weigh the count against fleet size. Twenty complaints against seven hundred trucks is one record. Twenty against five trucks is another.

Read the complaints before you read the brochure.

4:48Reviews: what 5 stars can't tell you

How do you tell if a moving company is reputable? Reviews help, if you know how to read them.

Since October 2024, a federal rule bans businesses from writing or buying fake reviews. It bans paying for reviews on condition that they're positive, and using threats to get bad reviews taken down. Penalties can top fifty thousand dollars per violation.

A rule doesn't clean every page, though. In 2025, Florida's attorney general secured more than four million dollars in judgments, and a lifetime ban from the industry there, against a group of moving brokers. Eight company names were involved. The state said the companies kept changing names when bad reviews made it hard to attract customers.

So read for history, not stars. The Transportation Department's inspector general says to check that reviews go back further than a short, recent stretch, and aren't only glowing ones. The Federal Trade Commission's advice: watch for a burst of reviews in a short time, and for reviewers who've only ever written one.

Then search the company's name plus the word complaint, or scam. Search its D.O.T. number too, in case the name is new.

Five stars tell you how a company wants to look. Its history tells you how it behaved.

6:04The estimate visit: no survey, no price

An in-home moving estimate, or a virtual survey: which one counts? For a move between states, either one. What doesn't count is no survey at all.

The survey can happen in your home or on video, live or recorded, as long as the mover can clearly see what's going. The only way around it is a waiver that you sign, in writing, before loading. And if you booked through a broker, the survey has to be done by the mover that will carry the load, not by the broker.

Here's what an honest one looks like. The estimator opens the closets. Asks about the attic, the garage and the shed. Asks what's staying behind. Asks about stairs and parking at both addresses. Then the estimate arrives in writing, signed and dated by both of you. The federal booklet is blunt: a verbal quote is not an official estimate.

And when a company skips all that? The FMCSA's first red flag is an estimate given by phone or online, sight unseen. Its booklet says to avoid movers that refuse to do a survey.

So before the estimator comes, film a slow walk through every room, and keep the video.

No survey, no price.

7:105 questions to ask movers before hiring

What questions should you ask movers before hiring? The FMCSA publishes its own list of ten. These five go further, into moving day.

One. Will your own crew and your own truck pick up my shipment? The agency says to confirm exactly that.

Two. Is any part of this move brokered, or handed to another carrier? The Transportation Department's inspector general recommends asking. Federal rules say the bill of lading has to list every other carrier taking part, when known, with its D.O.T. number.

Three. Will my things change trucks, or sit in a warehouse on the way? Ask for the address. The same office lists a vague storage location as a red flag.

Four. What truck will arrive? The FMCSA lists a rental truck, instead of a company-owned or marked one, as a red flag.

Five. Who do I call during the trip?

In September 2025, a court judgment ordered a Florida moving business to pay three million dollars, and its owner seven hundred thousand, to resolve the state's claims. The state's complaint cited customers who said they were misled about which company would handle their move.

So get the five answers by email. Then check them against moving day.

8:226 papers a mover owes you before loading

What is a bill of lading for moving? It's one of six papers a mover owes you before the truck is loaded. For a move between states, federal rules spell them out.

One and two come with your written estimate. They're federal publications: the booklet Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move, plus a brochure called Ready to Move. A link counts, if you sign a receipt.

Three: the estimate itself, signed and dated by you and the mover.

Four: the small print. A summary of the arbitration program, one of the complaint process, and a notice that you can see the tariff, the mover's price list.

Five: the bill of lading. That's your contract and your receipt. It should reach you for signature at least three days ahead of loading. It has to show the mover's registered name and address, your pickup and delivery dates, how you'll pay, and the most the mover will demand at delivery.

Six: the inventory. Every box and every loose item gets a numbered tag. The list is signed by both of you, and your copy comes before the truck leaves.

So the night before, lay out all six. If one is missing, ask before a single box moves.

9:29How many moving quotes? At least 3

How many moving quotes should you get? The FMCSA's own checklist says at least three, and to compare cost and all the other services.

It's tempting to line up three prices. Line up three companies instead, on one page, with seven rows.

Row one: carrier, broker or agent.

Row two: D.O.T. status active, and authorized for household goods.

Row three: complaints, next to fleet size.

Row four: a survey of your home, in person or on video.

Row five: whose crew and whose truck.

Row six: pickup and delivery dates, in writing.

Row seven: the papers. Did the federal booklets and a signed estimate arrive?

Three companies, seven rows. That's twenty-one boxes, and most take one phone call or one look-up to fill.

Then look at price. The FMCSA warns that hiring on the lowest price alone can cost you things that matter more, like getting your possessions moved safely and delivered on time. Price is its own subject. Our video on mover costs walks through it.

Choose the company with no empty boxes.

10:35The short version

So here's the short version. Ask every company whether it's a carrier, a broker or an agent. Look up its D.O.T. number, and read the status, the authority and the complaints. Read reviews for history, not stars. Get a survey before you accept a price. And don't let a box leave without your signed papers.

If you want help, go to majesticmovingcompanies.com. Get free quotes from professional movers who cover your route. It takes about thirty seconds, or you can chat with Robert, our moving assistant. And while you're there, there's a lot more to help you plan: guides on moving costs, delivery windows, car shipping and more.

I'm Daniel. Choose carefully, and safe travels.